Encore une fois
by Abra Cadaverous
Summary: Zoro. Nami. Again, and again, and again. 6. In which Zoro is defeated by Girl-Scouts. 7. In which Zoro gets hooked. Thirty times, I wish.
1. Surprise

Nami came to find him after the battle, an ugly stab wound marring her arm.

Zoro's body was criss-crossed with slash-marks and a thin cut bisected his right eyebrow and the corner of his eye, the result of a vicious downward cut that would have split his skull like a melon if it had hit.

She didn't say anything, just rested her forehead against his collar-bone and sighed heavily, inhaling the salty smell of sweat and the familiar tang of blood. He kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers up and down her spine.

The avenue up and down where he had been fighting was abandoned.

A combination of adrenaline and post-battle horniness saw them hurrying into one of them empty houses kissing passionately and undressing each other.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me about this right away." Chopper complained, anchoring the stitches across Zoro's shoulder.

"Because it had closed up already and you were busy with Luffy." he said calmly.

"You can't ignore your injuries, Zoro!" Chopper scolded. "One of these days, something will get infected and you'll die!"

"I won't die from something stupid like an infection." Zoro insisted. "You don't have to worry about me. Go worry about the love-cook or Nami. They got beat up pretty bad."

"I already bandaged them up! _They_ tell me about _all_ of their injuries." the doctor said, handing Zoro two white tablets. "Take these. And for god's sake, leave your wrappings alone!"

Zoro swallowed the pills and wandered out onto the deck to check on the rest of the crew. Nami and Usopp were sitting near the mikan trees. Nami was gesturing emphatically and talking loudly. Usopp was cringing a bit. Zoro walked quietly over so he could hear her more clearly, but he stopped, surprised, as he made out some of what she was saying.

"...with someone with, with faulty equipment! If I have to... ... failure to perform... one more time!"

"But why... me..." Usopp objected.

She smacked the deck with the palms of both hands. "I can't _do_ it, Usopp!"

Zoro fled.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Zoro shoved aside an empty bottle of beer and grabbed an unopened one.

Sanji kept shooting him glances. Finally he asked, "What's got you so down?"

The swordsman glared over his shoulder at the cook. "None of your damn business. Damn... times like this I wish I could actually get drunk."

"Did something happen when you were fighting?"

"No. I kicked the guy's ass. Stop fishing, swirly. I'm not going to tell you."

"Wait, wait wait." Sanji said, turning off the stove and walking over to stare at Zoro. "It's not _girl_ trouble is it? Marimo! If you touch Nami-swan or Robin-chwan, I'll kick your ass!"

"I'll touch whoever I please." said Zoro, knowing it would piss the chef off. "You can't have them both."

"It's not about having them, it's about protecting them! From you! What if you got one of them pregnant?"

"It's more than you'll ever be able to do." said Zoro sourly.

The two went for each other with swords and flaming kicks, and it took Chopper in heavy-point, yelling about injuries, to drag them apart.

Zoro was on the deck, doing push-ups with bags of sand laid across his shoulders. He had long since exceeded his usual limit of a thousand a day.

"Thousand two hundred and fifty-five, thousand two hundred and fifty-six, thousand two hundred and fifty-seven..."

Franky strutted past with a heavy box of lumber resting on his shoulder, but stopped to do a double-take when he saw the sweat-darkened wood underneath Zoro.

"Ow, Swordsman-bro! Nice energy!" he shifted the box to give Zoro a thumbs up. "I approve!"

"Go away. I'm busy." he grunted.

"Ow, you're crankier than usual." Franky remarked, squatting down to get a better look at Zoro. "I know that look!" he crowed. "Ow! Girl trouble! It's you and the Girlie, isn't it!"

Zoro's arms slid out from under him and he face-planted solidly against the Adam's-wood deck. He struggled under the bags of sand, waving his arms and legs like an over-turned beetle.

Franky took advantage of his temporary immobilization to seat himself in front of the swordsman and wag a finger in his face. "Now, mossy-bro, I don't know what your specific problem is, but since you're like a little brother to me, I'm gonna give you some advice!"

Zoro mumbled something profane into the deck.

"Girls, especially girls like Navigator-sis, like it when you shake things up a little in bed! Maybe get a little kinky with some rope or handcuffs. I'm sure we can snatch a pair for you two off some Marines the next time we run into the little buggers..."

He finally managed to buck the sandbags off. They hit the deck with a heavy thump, and Zoro fled as Franky launched into a discussion about the merits of leather thongs versus lace.

Careening around the corner, he had to veer suddenly to one side as Nami came from the opposite direction. His feet slid out from under him, and his already bruised ribs gave a yell of protest as he landed heavily on his side. He rolled onto his back grimacing and breathing lightly till the pain slowly started to subside.

A cool hand slid under his shirt and lightly pressed his side, bringing the pain into sharp relief. Zoro fought and lost to the urge to bury his head in her stomach.

Nami sighed and ran her fingers through his hair. "Your ribs are all swollen. Tonight will have to wait. You need to put ice on this and just relax."

"If you don't want to have sex, just say so." Zoro muttered, regretting the words the minute they left his mouth.

"What was that?" Nami said, frowning and pushing him off her lap.

Regretted the words, yes, he did, but Zoro wasn't a liar. "I _said_, if you don't _want_ to have _sex,_just _say so._" he said, enunciating carefully and speaking slowly, like he was talking to a small child, or someone with sub-par intelligence.

"_Why_ would you think I don't want to have sex with you?" she demanded.

"Don't think I didn't hear you, complaining to Usopp that it wasn't any good!" He roared.

Nami looked confused for a moment. "What are you _talking_ about?" she said, her voice rising shrilly. "I did _not_ discuss our sex life with Usopp!"

"I _heard_ you." he said, insistent.

Usopp in question came around the corner at that moment, swinging the Clima-tact in one hand. "Oi, Nami, I finished – Oh, I can see you two are having a serious discussion. The Great Captain Usopp-sama will now depart!"

Nami reached out and grabbed the strap of his overalls, hauling back and spinning him around to face Zoro. "Usopp," she said in a saccharine voice. "tell Zoro whether or not I have discussed our sex life with you."

"S-s-s-s-s-s-sex? You guys are having _sex_? Here? On the ship?" he squeaked, his eyes playing ping-pong back and forth between Nami and Zoro's faces.

"See?" Nami said smugly. "You can go, Usopp."

He fled.

Zoro, still getting over his surprise, watched Usopp make a beeline for the infirmary. "...you know the fact that we slept together is going to be all over the ship in ten minutes."

Nami smirked. "Oh, I know."

**Omake.**

Chopper paused outside the aquarium-bar as a low moan caught his attention.

"Ow, witch. Not so hard!"

"Just be grateful I'm doing this. Will you stop wiggling? How am I supposed to get your shirt off?"

"Why don't you let me take _your_ shirt off?"

"Because you'll tear it off with your teeth. And I happen to like this shirt."

Usopp's horrified pronouncement from earlier still running through his head, Chopper let out a sharp gasp, turned and ran for the infirmary. He was back in less than a minute with a small bottle of homemade birth control in one hoof and a box of condoms in the other.

Praying that they hadn't started doing any _things_ yet, he kicked the door open. "Wait, guys! Stop! Don't have sex without birth control! Wait!"

Zoro and Nami both stared at him, shocked, and frozen in position.

Chopper stared back, a crimson blush rising under his fur. "S-sorry!" he squeaked, bowing. "I'll leave to your business!"

Zoro laughed. Nami just shrugged and went back to bandaging his ribs.


	2. Master

**Yeah, so... I've taken a rather long break from writing fanfiction. I finished most of these quite some time ago, and I'm posting them now. I know the summary says 'Thirty' but I haven't written thirty fics yet, so... Cross your fingers. One Piece does not belong to me, which is why I'm posting this on FFN. Duh. **

Breakfast this morning consisted of pancakes, strawberry, blueberry, and cherry preserves, maple syrup, powdered sugar, fresh cherries, and orange juice. And lots of bacon and sausage for Luffy.

Sanji had lovingly arranged everything to look as appetizing as was humanly possible. Nami and Robin's plates were set carefully off to one side, where they would be out of the way as he rang the bell for breakfast.

Several slams echoed across the ship and then came the thump-thump-thump of running feet. The kitchen door banged open and the male members of the crew flooded in, Luffy reaching the table first, stuffing his mouth and proclaiming that it was all delicious in a muffled voice. Usopp and Zoro started stuffing their pockets with the bacon Luffy hadn't grabbed yet. Chopper protested loudly as the Captain stole the last sausage right out of his mouth.

Sanji sighed heavily as an errant elbow knocked over the strawberry preserves.

Nami and Robin entered then, sitting down calmly and asking if his morning had gone alright. He cooed that it had been lovely, as he had been thinking about their beautiful faces, so how could it not be?

Sanji handed them their plates – Nami's had strawberry preserves, Robin's had blueberry. - and stood close by, zealously guarding them as they ate.

"Ah. Cherries." said Robin suddenly, leaning across the table to rescue the bowl. "Would you like some, Navigator-san?"

"Sure." Nami accepted, plucking several out by their stems.

Robin popped one into her mouth, then grinned, and said in a voice that miraculously carried over the crashes and shouts, "You know, Navigator-san, they say if you can tie the stem of a cherry into a knot with your tongue, it means you are a good kisser."

"Hmm, really?" Nami wondered, slipping a stem into her mouth.

"I wanna try!" Luffy yelled, arm stretching across the table to snatch a cherry out of the bowl.

The whole crew had joined in in less than thirty seconds. Sanji and Zoro glared at each other, mouths furiously working.

"Done." Nami said, holding the knotted up for them to see.

"Skillfully done, Navigator-san." said Robin, smiling.

Zoro spat his out a moment later. "Done." he said, smirking. "I guess that means I'm the kissing master."

Luffy had somehow swallowed his stem and managed to tie his tongue into a knot instead. "Hey, Wobin!" he called. "Doe'th thith coun'?"

Usopp choked on his stem, causing Chopper to panic, spit his out, and start the Heimlich maneuver.

Sanji finished last, took his stem out of his mouth – and nearly kicked something when it came undone.

"Hey, Nami, Zowo," Luffy said, picking his nose. "Thinth you two are the betht kithers, thould you kith?"

Nami and Zoro, both blushing a bit and trying to hide it, stared at each other for a moment, then turned to Luffy and said simultaneously,

"NO!"


	3. Princess

**Wow, FFN, thanks so much for eating formatting. And also, a rather more sincere thank-you to ****zenbon zakura and MASSEXPLOSION for your reviews. Lastly, a small thanks to the people who put this story on their favs and alerts.  
Modern-day AU.  
One Piece is not mine. **

"Look." Nami commanded.

Zoro opened one eye lazily to see a fuzzy orange blob dangling barely an inch from his face. A limb detached itself from the rest of the mass and Zoro found himself with four tiny, sharp claws stuck quite firmly in his nose. Letting out a surprised yelp, he scrambled backwards.

"The hell is that thing?" he demanded, rubbing his watering eyes.

"It's a kitten." said Nami dryly, cradling the beast against her chest. "I think you scared her."

"I didn't do anything but look!" he protested.

"She was probably just scared of your face." she said matter-of-factly.

"Gee, thanks." Zoro muttered. "We're not keeping it, are we?"

"Duh." she said from the kitchen. "I'm not going to pay to raise her just to rehome her to some ungrateful jerks. Anyways, she's going to earn her keep and keep the mice away, right, Princess?"

"You're naming that monster Princess?" he queried.

"She's not a monster, and yes, I am. By the way, you get to clean her litterbox."

"Like hell!"Zoro protested, already positive that the fuzzy creature and himself weren't going to get along at all.

Nami reentered the living room and placed the kitten on his lap. "Here, you two can get to know one another better. I have weekly projections to do."

The kitten stared at him solemnly with yellow eyes and then yawned, as though deciding he wasn't worthy of acknowledgment. Deliberately, she turned in a quick circle and stretched out across his knees. For a brief moment, he thought she had just decided to sleep on him, but then, with what he would later swear was a wicked gleam in her eye, she dragged her claws up his leg.

His leg jerked reflexively, sending the kitten flying through the air to land on her feet across the room, crouched and snarling at him. She fled the room with her tail upright and her fur sticking out all over when she got a look at his livid face.

Heedless of the blood-trail he was leaving on the carpet, Zoro leapt off the couch and darted after the kitten, and into the kitchen. After chasing Princess under the dining room table and around the island, he cornered her under the desk. Reaching out to grab her by the scruff of her neck, he sneezed violently and crashed forward into the corner of the desk.

"Zoro? What the hell is going on out there?" he heard Nami call from the office.

"Nothing!" he barked, a little more severely than he wanted.

Rubbing his forehead, Zoro scanned the kitchen for the beastie. It was nowhere in sight, and he stalked back into the living room to check behind the couch.

By now, his eyes were starting to itch and water, and he almost missed the stubby orange tail that disappeared behind the TV when he walked in the room. But not quite.

Scowling, he hauled Princess out from behind the television by the scruff of her neck. She growled and swiped at him, leaving red lines all over his hands and wrists. He didn't drop her this time, carrying the kitten into Nami's office.

"I theek I'b allergic to your dabb cat." he announced, sneezing again.

Nami spun around in her office chair and winced upon seeing him. "I think so too. That's really too bad. Looks like you'll have to go and live with Sanji."

Zoro stared, shocked. "_Huh_?"

–

Sanji howled when Zoro called him from the bus stop, and he was still laughing when he opened the door for the moss-head.

"I can't believe!" he said, for the fourth time, as he fixed dinner for the two of them, "that she picked that cat over you. You must be the worst boyfriend ever."

"I am not." Zoro mumbled from the couch.

"And _now_ you're sulking!" The chef chortled. "It's like Christmas and my birthday, all in one."

"Shut up, squiggly!" Zoro barked. "It's not like _you've_ ever had a girlfriend!"

"Have so!"

"Have not! Prostitutes don't count!" he said snidely.

"I have _never_ used a prostitute!" Sanji protested. "That's just crass, marimo."

"Yes you have. That one time-"

"I was drunk!" Sanji said in a strained voice. "And we didn't actually do anything! And you promised never to speak of that again! We agreed!"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "There's no one here. What are you being so paranoid about?"

"You never know who might be listening." said Sanji tiredly. "The walls of this apartment are like freaking paper."

"I'll keep that in mind..."

–

Sanji allowed Zoro to "pay" for his rent by waiting tables and taking out the trash at the French Blue, Zeff's restaurant. Zeff didn't even wait a week before moving Zoro to just waiting tables, on account of the spike in female customers.

"Those girls at table six are asking for your phone number again." Sanji said to the moss-haired man as he handed him three plates of pasta.

"You didn't give it them, did you?"

"I was tempted, really."

"Don't you dare." Zoro reiterated when Sanji smirked and looked away.

Sanji laughed. "Yeah yeah, I know. How is it you attract so many kids, anyways? Those girls can't be more than eleven or twelve."

"Hell if I know." Zoro muttered, taking the pasta out to the table of giggling girls.

As he grated parmesan over the pastas, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but I've been waiting out front for almost half an hour, and that oaf, Patty, won't believe me when I say I'm here as a friend of the chef. Oh, it's you, Zoro."

Zoro spun around, sprinkling the table with cheese. "Nami! What're you doing here?"

She looked amused to see him in the semi-formal wait-staff attire Zeff had found for him.

"Hmmm..." Nami murmured, straightening out the collar of his white dress-shirt and smiling when his cheeks turned the faintest shade of red. "You should dress like this more often."

Behind him, one of the young girls made an angry noise and threw an olive; it bounced off the front of Nami's shirt, leaving a damp spot on the yellow fabric. The redhead moved as if to jump at the girl, but Zoro caught her around the waist and dragged her into the back before she could start a fight.

"Ah, _mon cygne gracieux!_" Sanji cooed, snatching her from Zoro and kissing her hand. "How kind of you to grace us with your lovely presence!"

"Hello, Sanji." she said, extracting her hand before he could kiss it again. "I'm just here to pick up lunch."

"Of course." Sanji replied, pulling two take-out boxes out of the fridge. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow." Nami said, waving and walking towards the front of the restaurant.

Zoro's feet followed her to the door without giving him any say in the matter. A chorus of jealous whispers starts up from the group of girls when they spot him trailing Nami out the door.

She stopped right outside and he almost bowled her over. "I almost forgot to tell you," she said, turning around and grinning at him. "You can move back in."

He stared at her rather stupidly. "Huh?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "You heard me. You can move back in. I got rid of the cat, I just wanted to make sure she went to a good home. I also had the apartment cleaned."

"Really?" he said, striving to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "I thought you loved that cat and planned to keep it forever."

She snorted. "You didn't really think I'd pick a cat over you, did you? You did!" she barked when she saw the guilty expression creep over his face. She cuffed his ear, then sighed. "Idiot."

"Sorry."

"Whatever. I expect you back tonight, and I've planned something special to make up for the cat fiasco."

"Really."

"Yes, so don't be late."

"I won't be."


	4. Frog

**One Piece is not mine. **

Nami spread the striped beach towel carefully over the lawn of the Thousand Sunny, picked up her book and flopped out on the deck, flipping pages until she found her place.

After several minutes, she set her book aside. She'd been planning to read more theories about the Grand Line's magnetic fields, but the sun was gentle and warm and made her want to nap instead.

Nami dozed in the quiet that the rest of the crew's absence left behind, the chirping of various tropical birds and the far-away hum of the market town creating a peaceful ambiance.

_Squelch._

The wet sound was enough to bring Nami to the edge of awareness. The next _squelch_ had her fully awake, feigning sleep and wishing she hadn't left her Clima-tact on her bed.

_Squelch_.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled.

_Squelch_.

Unable to take the tension anymore, Nami rose to all fours and scrabbled across the deck – and stopped abruptly when she saw the squelcher.

A huge, squat green frog stared at her out of bulbous, soulless yellow eyes. Slowly, its throat expanded and it croaked at her.

Nami stared back, incredulity turning to angry in an instant. She snatched up one of the cricket bats the boys had left on the lawn, and stalked towards the amphibian with every intention to flick it over the railing and into the ocean.

The frog, looking alarmed, hopped swiftly backward, croaking loudly.

"Oh no," Nami growled. "You're not getting any mercy from this pirate!"

The frog stopped just short of the railing, croaking increasing in frequency and volume.

Nami slowed, frowning. "There's no point begging." She informed it, because it really did sound like it was saying "_please, mercy, please."_ in a very gruff, croaking voice.

"_Please beautiful lady!"_

Nami stared. "Are you _speaking_ to me?"

"_Oh, thank the powers that be. I feared that thou wouldst not understand me."_

"Goddamn, frog. I'm not sure if I should keep you alive and sell you to the circus, or just kick you over the side and pretend this never happened."

"_Please, lady, I implore thee to do neither of these things. They would bring about calamity!"_

Nami dropped the bat in order to massage her temples. "This is not happening... I am not being spoken to by a damn medival frog. Listen here, frog." She snapped, glaring. "I'm going to turn around, count to ten and when I'm done, you'll be gone, if you're smart."

"O_h, but lady, I beg of thee! This island, it is my home! For I am not a frog, but a prince! I have had a spell cast upon me, and I need but a single kiss from thee to restore me to human form! Please, do but this one small test and thy rewards shall be legendary! Half my kingdom, I shall take thy hand in marriage, I shall empty my treasure vaults for thee -!"_

"Treasure?" Nami demanded, dropping to her knees in order to be on eye-level with the frog. "What kind of treasure?"

"_Gold and silver and jewels as big as your fist!" _the frog said, hopping closer. Nami didn't notice that he'd dropped his accent.

"As big as my fist, really?" she said, beaming.

The frog could almost here the _kaching!_ sound her brain was making. "_Just one little kiss..."_ it said, tantalizingly.

"Done!" Nami said quickly, holding out her hand to shake, then laughing sheepishly. "Alright..." she said, leaning over and closing her eyes, puckering her lips.

There was a _squish!_ing noise. Nami opened her eyes in time to see the frog sailing over the railing, despite the fact that frogs are not aerodynamic creatures in the least.

Zoro put his boot down, and raised an eyebrow at her. She gaped.

"You did _not_ just kick that frog over the railing!" she shrieked. "He was a prince! He was going to make me rich in exchange for turning him back into a human!"

"No." said Zoro flatly, drawing her over the railing, hand on her wrist. "He's just a pervert. Look."

In the water next to the Thousand Sunny's hull, a very naked young man was clinging to the hull, sputtering and squalling. "Pull me up!" he screamed. "I'm a Devil Fruit user, I can't swim!"

Snarling, Nami grabbed one of the heavy cricket balls and hurled it with killer accuracy at the man's skull. With a _plonk!_ He sunk below the waves.

Zoro snorted. "You shouldn't run around letting strangers kiss you."

"Shut up!" she growled, stomping towards the kitchen her face an angry red. "I did not ask for your advice!"

"Hey guys!" Usopp called. "I found our cricket ball! It was in the water! Right next to some guy!"


	5. Thorn

**One Piece does not belong to me. **

"This is stupid." Zoro growled, hacking at another tangle of branches with his machete.

Nami, walking behind him and consulting a treasure map, snorted. "This is potentially the biggest haul of treasure we'll ever find. Stop whining."

"Tch. This sucks, then."

Wading through a knee-deep mixture of algae-infested water, rotting plants, and and the occasional rat-carcass, Nami had to agree. The cloud of midges and mosquitos that buzzed around her head wasn't helping either. But still, there was maybe a huge haul of treasure hidden in the Swamp of Festering Pustules somewhere.

"Get moving, lackey." Nami said, grabbing a moss-covered branch and prodding his back with it. "Remember, half of the treasure is what I'll take off your debt, but that's only if we find it."

"Yes, boss." Zoro said mockingly. He'd been "indebted" to Nami since they were quite young, and he doubted that he'd ever pay her off entirely.

"Okay, so we're looking for a tree that looks like an 'undead hand rising from beneath the primordial mud.'" Nami muttered. "See anything yet?"

"No... I'm looking." Zoro replied, scanning the tangled clumps of mangrove trees that surrounded them. He pointed. "That it?"

A half-rotted oak tree that had probably been around since before the area had turned into a swamp rose out of the mud fifty yards away. The trunk split off into five branches that curled forward like grasping fingers.

"I'd bet it is!" she crowed, struggling past him.

Nami pushed through the thick, hardy bushes that surrounded the oak tree with one hand, the other keeping the map above her head and above water. But she yanked her hand away from a sturdy-looking bush. "Ow! Damn!"

Zoro hurried to catch up to her, splashing smelly-swamp water everywhere in his haste. "What happened?" he demanded. "You didn't get bit by a snake, did you?" The snakes that inhabited the Swamp of Festering Pustules were infamous, as their bites caused the festering pustules the swamp was named for to appear all over one's body.

"No." Nami said, sounding relieved herself. She held up her hand; embedded in her forefinger was a large red thorn. She dug it out with her fingernails and flicked it away.

Zoro reached out and caught her wrist. Nami frowned at him and opened her mouth to ask him what he thought he was doing, when he closed his mouth over her finger. He met her gaze with dark eyes.

Suddenly afraid, Nami yanked her hand away, clutching it against her chest. "Stop that." she mumbled, looking away because she was red in the face and unable to meet his eyes.

Digging through her Expert Treasure Hunter Kit, she pulled out a roll of bandages she'd gotten from Chopper and wrapped them around her finger, working to hide her blush.

"You good to go, then?" Zoro asked, shifting the heavy pack he was carrying and pulling his machete out of the log he'd stuck it in.

"Yep. So, once we get to the tree, we have to walk east 'swaggering like a drunken sailor.' You can handle that part, Zoro." she said snappily.

"Witch..."

But the insult didn't have as much bite as usual.

"Slow _down_, Zoro." Nami groaned, tugging her booted foot free of a particularly clingy patch of mud.

"Speed _up_, Nami." Zoro retorted, mimicking her petulant tone. He stopped, nevertheless.

Nami was leaning against a tree, panting heavily, one hand resting on her chest.

Zoro frowned. "Hey, are you ok?"

Nami waved a hand at him, still trying to catch her breath. "Fine, fine. Just a bit out of shape is all..."

The swordsman slogged back to her, stepping over arched tree-roots and tossing the occasional dead animal off to the side with the tip of the machete.

Standing in front of her, it was plain that something was wrong. Her hair was hanging limp, damp with sweat, but she also shivering fitfully. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes looked bloodshot.

"Gods, Nami." he muttered, reaching out to steady her as she tried to take a step forward and wobbled precariously.

"I'm fine." she bit out, shoving him away ineffectually. "There's treasure out here... I have to find it."

With that, her eyes rolled up in her head and she toppled forward. Zoro caught her before she hit the murky water.

Thousands of dire curses ran through his mind as he shrugged off his pack, pulled out a length of rope, and dropped the pack in the water. He carefully tied Nami's wrists together, hoisted her into piggyback position, and tied her legs around his waist.

Grabbing his machete, Zoro took off across the swamp, praying to gods he had no faith in that he would make it to Chopper in time.

If there _was_ time.

Villagers in the small farming town of Pig-tooth were more than a little shocked when a misshapen creature, covered in foul swamp mud and trailing weeds, stumbled out of the forest that bordered the village and cornered a young woman who screamed and threw her milk-bucket at it.

Zoro crouched to avoid the milk bucket, his temper fraying at the edges. "Goddammit, I'm not here to pillage your village, kidnap your women or your sheep, and I'm not here to demand more tribute from you, so will you people kindly _stop throwing things at me and tell me which direction Bordello village is?_"

Trembling, the milkmaid pointed east.

Placated, Zoro said "Thanks." ...and ran west.

Everyone in the vicinity hollered that he was running the wrong way.

For a village named after a den of perversion and debauchery, Bordello really was a nice, sunny little place.

Chopper lived on the outskirts of Bordello, inside of a hollowed-out tree that belonged to the man who'd raised the cursed reindeer-boy.

The doctor was outside, carefully tending the herb garden when Zoro arrived in front of his house with an ominous "_Chopper!_"

The reindeer jumped about a foot, fur standing up all over his body. He let out frightened yelp upon seeing the mud-crusted swordsman.

"Gods, what happened to _you?_" Chopper stood up and got a look at the mostly-clean woman on Zoro's back. "Is that Nami? Oh my gods, somebody call a doctor!"

"You're the doctor." Zoro reminded him somewhat tersely, already heading for the door.

"Right!" Chopper said, scampering past Zoro and into the tree-home. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"We were treasure-hunting in the Swamp of Festering Pustules-" he explained, lowering Nami carefully onto the bed Chopper used for patients.

"Oh no! She wasn't bitten by one of those snakes, was she?" The reindeer could feel dread creeping into his heart. As of yet, he had been unable to discover any kind of cure for the bite the snakes that lived the Swamp.

"No." Zoro held up one of Nami's arms. "See, no pustules."

Chopper exhaled heavily. "Good. So do you know what happened?"

Zoro stood next to the bed. "The only thing I can think of was that Nami pricked herself on a thorn..."

"Can you describe it? The bush it came from?" Chopper asked, carefully checking Nami's pulse.

Zoro though a moment. "The thorn was red... and the bush had dead purple flowers on it. The leaves were kind of scaly-looking."

"Sounds like Blue Viper-bush." Chopper said, shaking his head, voice clear despite the tears already streaming down his face. "Right now, it's all up to her, though it could be worse right now; at least she's not sweating blood yet." His shoulders shook under the strain of repressed emotion.

"I see." Zoro said flatly.

"You didn't get pricked too, did you?" Chopper demanded, turning to him. He looked pale under his fur.

"No." Chopper looked comparatively relieved. "But I did, uh, put Nami's finger in my mouth."

"What? You could be poisoned too!" Chopper gasped. "But... you should be sick already."

Zoro sat down to allow the doctor easy access to his vitals. Chopper passed a hoof over the former-knight's forehead, then checked his pulse and his breathing.

He frowned. "You're only running a bit of a fever. You ought to be sicker if you did get a dose of the poison... but you shouldn't be sick at all if you didn't... This can really only mean one thing. You got a dose of the poison, but your body is fighting it off; that's why you're feverish. And it must be working, or you'd be having trouble breathing already."

"Will this help Nami?" Zoro asked.

"It might." said Chopper. "I think if I give Nami some of your blood, whatever's fighting the infection in your body will start fighting in hers."

Wordlessly, Zoro held out his arm.

When Nami woke up, she felt like she'd been running a marathon.

She ached all over, and the palms of her hand and the soles of her feet, as well as her throat, were burning. Her head hurt too, but there was a cold, damp cloth resting against her forehead.

It was a vast improvement, compared to how she'd been feeling right before she... fainted into Zoro's arms...

Nami felt her cheeks starting to burn a bit at the memory. Hopefully the shadow-person moving around whatever room she was in would chalk it up to the remains of the fever.

"Oooh, you're awake!" a familiar voice exclaimed happily.

"Chopper..." Nami said, finding her lips unreasonably hard to move.

"Yes! You remember who I am! That doesn't make me happy at all!" Chopper said, no doubt blushing under his fur.

"Ah, we're out of the swamp..." Nami observed, finally managing to raise her head.

"Yes! Zoro brought you all the way here at a run! Good thing too, or I wouldn't have been able to treat you otherwise." he said, bustling around his workshop cheerfully.

"How did you treat me?" she asked, curious. She'd certainly _felt_ like she'd been about to die.

"I gave you some of Zoro's blood. Seems like he got a small dose of poison when he sucked on your finger. His body was fighting the poison, and well, too. So I gave you an infusion and you started showing improvements in less than an hour."

Chopper said all that in a neutrally cheerful tone of voice. Nami tried to burrow under the blankets anyways.

"Here, I made you some tea. It should help with any pain you are probably experiencing." he said, tapping her shoulder to draw her attention, then handing her the steaming mug.

Nami accepted it and took a grateful sip.

A short time later, she fell comfortably asleep, the knowledge that Zoro was dozing just outside the door resting gently on the fringes of her mind.

Author's note: I feel compelled to tell you, my dear readers, that this fic was written with blatant disregard for common medical knowledge. Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to give someone an infusion of your blood without going through the proper legal/medical channels. Potentially fatal complications can and will result from any attempt to do so, including but not limited to Febrile non-Hemolytic Transfusion Reaction, bacterial infections, viral infections, Acute Hemolytic Reaction, Anaphylactic reactions, Transfusion-associated Acute Lung injury, any and all of which may potentially result in death. In short, don't even, ever think about trying it.


	6. Cafe

**Modern-day AU.  
One Piece is not mine.  
-**

"...and don't be late!"

"Yeah yeah." Zoro placed the phone back in its cradle and delved into the fridge for a beer.

Sanji's blond head appeared over the back of the couch. "Was that Nami?"

"Yep."

"Ah, my swan! Did she need anything I could possibly assist her with?"

Zoro opened his beer and fixed his roommate with a glare. "Get your own damn girlfriend."

"Cad!"

"Dartboard."

"How dare you!"

"Take that!"

Luffy opened the door without bothering to knock and neither Zoro nor Sanji spared him a glance. The boy laughed. "Wow, you guys are energetic this morning!"

Usopp followed him in, keeping Luffy between him and the fighting men. "It makes me nervous when they do that."

The two men sprang apart, panting slightly. Sanji straightened his tie and hair. "Shithead, what are you doing here?"

Luffy beamed, unperturbed. "We came over for lunch! Chopper's going to be here too! Make meat, Sanji!"

"Yeah, just a min-Oi! That moss-head abandoned our fight!" Sanji glared at the bathroom door, steam already leaking under the jam.

Luffy cheered. "Now you can make us meat!"

The chef sighed and rolled up his sleeves. "Fine. Teriyaki or Barbecue?"

"Teriyaki!" Luffy cheered.

"Barbecue!" Usopp's vote. Luffy tackled him off his chair.

"Pick Teriyaki, Usopp!" he yelled, bouncing on the other boy's stomach.

"F-f-i-yi-yi-in-ne!"

"Alright." said Sanji. "Teriyaki it is. Chicken or beef?"

"Beef!"

"Chi-I mean beef." Usopp muttered, climbing back onto his chair and rubbing his abused midsection. Luffy dropped heavily into his own chair and the legs groaned under the sudden assault.

Sanji pulled beef out of the freezer and started cutting it into strips.

He was frying everything in a pan with lots of vegetables when Zoro came out of the bathroom, shirtless and vigorously towel-drying his hair. "Oi, dartboard. Where are your keys?"

Sanji pulled a knife off the rack and hurled it at Zoro. It stuck, quivering, in the door-frame a bare few millimeters from Zoro's head. To his credit, the other man didn't flinch.

"Why would I lend you my car, moss-ball? You'll just get lost. Maybe you'll even wind up going the wrong way on a one-way street. Then where would we be?" The blond poured teriyaki sauce over everything, and dished it onto two plates, setting them in front of the eager younger men. "You just take the bus." he said finally.

Zoro frowned. "Fine. Stingy bastard. Tch."

He vanished into the other room and reemerged a moment later wearing a clean white shirt and boots. Zoro walked out the door but poked his head back through a moment later.

"Hey. Curly."

"Yes?"

"Don't let Luffy in my room."

"Right."

"See ya."

Luffy looked up from his licked-clean plate. "Bye, Zoro!" he called belatedly. "Hey, Sanji, where's Zoro going? Do you think he'd mind if we went too?"

"The shithead's going on a date with Nami. I'm certain he'd mind."

"Aww..."

Zoro set out with the intention of walking, but decided quickly that it was way too much trouble, and he'd be doing plenty of walking when he met up with Nami later. So he headed for the bus station. He managed that(though the station was only a block away from the apartment he shared with Sanji), but he got off the bus at the wrong stop, in a section of town he was unfamiliar with.

It was a 'bad' part of town, as evidenced by the two tattooed youths who tried to mug him before he'd walked two blocks. Unperturbed, Zoro knocked their heads together, then against a wall, and threatened to continue doing so unless they took him to the mall.

They unhappily agreed and drove him there in a low-rider with a bad muffler. Both boys apologized for trying to mug him, and left.

Zoro headed for the food court to wait for Nami, and not looking where he was going, tripped. Realizing in midair that what he'd tripped over was in fact a little girl, he twisted to one side to avoid landing on her – and landed instead on the red wagon she'd been pulling, which was filled with girl-scout cookies.

He lay there amidst the smashed boxes for a long minute, rather stunned. The little girl leapt to her feet and started screaming at him

"You big jerk!" she shrilled. "You stepped _all_ over me, and then you crush my cookies?"

Zoro pushed himself into a sitting position and held up his hands in a placatory gesture, ready to apologize and pay for the damage he'd done. To his immense horror, the little girl burst into tears and crumpled to the sidewalk.

Nearby, her troop looked up from setting up a table and a display. Several started over, looking ready to do battle. The tallest of the bunch jabbed her finger rather viciously in his face.

"How dare you, sir!" she said officiously. "I hope you're prepared to pay for this!"

"Y-yeah." Zoro said awkwardly. "How much is it?"

Mollified, some of the girls started counting boxes, two of them kneeling next to their friend and murmuring to her, shooting him ugly looks.

The lead girl stood up and addressed him. "There's twenty boxes. That comes out to seventy dollars."

Zoro sputtered. "I don't have seventy! How about-" he pulled out his wallet to count. "fifteen?"

"Seventy." she said flatly. "Or we'll get mall security."

"I _said_ I don't have seventy!" he protested.

"Well, then. I'll tell you what. You give us your fifteen, and I'll let you work off the rest."

"You can't make me do that!"

She leveled a glare at him that was strongly reminiscent of Nami. "I can, and I will." She nodded to one of the girls standing nearby. "Fitzgerald, please go and get mall security." she smiled cruelly at him. "We'll have you blacklisted. You'll never be allowed in this mall again."

"F-fine!" Zoro snarled. "I'll sell your damn cookies! How long do I have to work?"

"That depends. We'll say... If you sell forty boxes, we'll let you go."

"Forty? That's extortion!" Zoro objected loudly.

"Fitzgerald..."

"Augh! Alright! Witch!"

She smiled thinly. "You may address me as Ms. O'Hara. Forty boxes. We'll be watching."

Then she and the rest of her troop walked away, seating themselves at the outdoor eating area, leaving Zoro alone with the display table.

Zoro sat down in one of the folding chairs, hoping that Nami would get him out of this somehow. When she got here. He checked his watch and saw, with some surprise, that he was half-an-hour early. He settled back in the chair to wait- and a balled-up napkin hit him in the back of the head.

He whirled around to see O'Hara crumpling another napkin.

Catching his gaze, she dropped the napkin back onto the table. "Get selling, moss-head! Do you want to be here all afternoon?" she barked, crossing her arms.

Growling to himself, Zoro sidled over to a small group of young women loitering outside the mall. He tapped one on the shoulder and as she turned, he said stiffly, "Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?"

Instead of answering, the girls all leaned in towards each other, and in voluble whispers, started talking about "what a frightening looking fellow he was, and should they get mall security?" while shooting him distrustful looks.

Drooping, he headed back to the table and stuck with asking parents who already had obnoxious children dragging on them and whining about cookies. Even so, he'd only sold three boxes.

Zoro slumped over the table, mentally cursing his abominable luck.

"Zoro?" came an incredulous voice. "Are you selling _girl scout cookies?_"

He felt a shiver run down his spine, and looked up to see Nami, staring at him. Zoro took a moment to do a bit of staring of his own, since she was dressed in a coral tube top and jean shorts that showcased her long, slender legs perfectly.

"Oh my god, you are." she laughed. "This wasn't what I was expecting to see when I got here."

She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture, bringing Zoro out of his reverie. "Robin would love to see this."

"Hey!" he objected. "Don't take pictures of me!"

Nami smirked. "Can't help myself. You're too cute."

Zoro blushed a bit and Nami gave him an only-slightly condescending pat on the head. "Now, let's go...?" she murmured, tugging on his sleeve.

O'Hara chose that moment to make herself known, marching up to them and somehow managing to look down her nose at the taller woman. "Pardon me, Mr. Salesman, but where do you think you're going?"

Nami gave the girl an incredulous look. "I happen to be going on a date. With my _boyfriend_. Please," she waved her hand dismissively at the girl. "step aside."

"I don't think so." said O'Hara flatly. "Your _boyfriend_ is indebted to me, and I don't intend to let him leave without paying me off."

Nami gave Zoro a '_what did you do now?_' look, and a frown that promised he'd hear about it later, then turned back to the girl. "Look, under normal circumstances I'd be completely on your side," Zoro flinched. "but as it happens, I'm doing some traveling starting next week, and I won't be seeing him for while. So now, my boyfriend and I will go."

She curled a hand possessively around his wrist and started to walk away. Zoro gladly allowed her to lead him away, but O'Hara grabbed his other arm and hauled him away from Nami with a vicious yank. The redhead whirled around, her hair-trigger temper triggered.

"You give him back!" She demanded, grabbing his arm with both hands.

O'Hara did not let go. "No! I demand reimbursement!"

"Ugh, you little twit!" Nami snarled. "How much does he owe you anyways?"

"Seventy."

"That's ridiculous!"

"He ruined twenty boxes of cookies. They're three-fifty each."

"Zoro!" Nami glowered, then deflated, leaning heavily against him. "I can't believe this... I only came out here to shop and spend time with my boyfriend..."

He patted her shoulder awkwardly, and she straightened up with a bit of effort and dug into her purse, counting out the money and handing it over to the girl scout, looking very reluctant.

O'Hara looked a bit disappointed, like a child who's had their favorite toy taken away, but she smiled brightly at them anyways. "Thank you for your business!" she chirped, and walked away.

Nami had an air of overwhelming gloom about her as she dismally counted the remaining money in her bag. "Ah.. There's not enough to do any real shopping." she said tiredly. "What am I going to do with you, Zoro? You're the most troublesome guy I've ever dated."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "But I'm the nicest, right?"

She sighed. "I'd say the most honest first. I guess I have enough money for us to get coffee. Shall we go to a cafe?"

Zoro shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."

Nami scowled. "No 'whatever.' Say yes or no."

He smiled easily at her. "Yes, Nami, I'd love to go to a cafe with you."

"Pfft. Let's go then. The Daily Grind, right?"

"Beats Starbucks."

She frowned at him. "Did you bring Sanji's car, or...?"

"I caught a ride with some gang-bangers." he said, far too cheerfully.

"They tried to mug you?"

"...yes." he muttered sulkily.

Nami laughed. "Sometime, I'll take you to a bad part of town and teach you how to not get mugged."

"Is it that easy?"

She ignored his question. "Anyways, I came in a taxi, so I guess we're walking."

In a rare show of gallantry that fit him a little oddly, he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Nami smiled at him, a strangely gentle smile, and took his arm. "Let's."


	7. Hook

**This is set like, before they pick up Usopp from Syrup. I think.  
One Piece is not mine. **

Zoro was, at the moment, sitting in the stern of their unnamed boat with a makeshift fishing pole, cursing his luck and their new navigator.

The navigator in question was lounging in the bow, fanning herself with a magazine she'd produced from her bag. Zoro waited until she looked over towards Luffy, who was sitting on the bowsprit(too close to the ocean for anyone's comfort) to give her a dirty look.

"Stop that." she ordered him airily.

"Stop what?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"Giving me those nasty looks. You do it every time I look away. Do you even know the meaning of the word 'subtle'?" Nami ribbed.

Zoro muttered something rude under his breath, returning his attention to the fishing pole when it nearly jerked out of his hands.

The pole bent towards the ocean, and the swordsman swore loudly, hauling on the line and hoping it was a big one. It felt like a big one.

Nami dropped her magazine and hurried to his side. "If you lose it, we'll eat you first." she said ominously, her breath tickling his ear.

Zoro twitched away from her uncomfortably, and that was when it happened.

The line suddenly went slack, the end of the pole whipping up towards his eyes. Zoro jerked away – and caught the hook full in his lower lip. He yelped, dropped the pole and hollered louder when it jerked his lip.

Nami grabbed it and held it up so that the line was loose enough to keep from dragging on him. She pulled a small switchblade out of her pocket and clipped it, dropping the pole and hauling Zoro's head down to get a better look.

"Wow." she said, sounding rather impressed. "It went all the way through."

She gave his lip a tug and he hissed, misting her fingers with saliva.

"Gross." Nami wiped her hand on his shirt. "Sit down." she sighed. "I'll try to take that out for you."

Zoro complied without a word, sitting down in the bottom of the boat, deciding that calling her a bitch could wait until his lip was hook-free. Nami sat down in front of him on the small bench that stretched across the boat and took his chin in one hand.

"Wow." she said again. Zoro glared and she laughed and continued her inspection.

"You know, I'm not sure I can get this out without leaving a hole in your lip." Nami said, her forehead knocking lightly against his nose.

"Don' car'" Zoro informed her. "Jus' pull i- ou' lease."

Her gaze flicked up to his. "You sure?"

Zoro nodded and Nami shrugged. Ignoring his pained grunts, Nami pulled the hook as straight as she could. By now Zoro was startling to drool a bit, and Nami wiped her fingers on his shirt again before continuing.

"I'm going to just yank this out, okay?" Nami said, her voice taking on a sing-song quality like she was talking to a child.

"Try not to move."

"'ay." Zoro said shortly.

"Ready?"

"Nn."

"Alright then. One, two-"

She yanked on two, and Zoro exhaled sharply, fists clenching as the barbed end tore free, coming away in her hand coated lightly with blood.

Zoro leaned against the side of the boat, covering his mouth with one hand and scrubbing away furiously at his watering eyes with the other, murmuring vitriolic curses against navigators, fish, fishing poles, hooks, and the ocean.

Nami bent the hook back into shape and dipped it in the ocean to clean it before dropping it back in the tackle box. She looked amused.

"Want me to kiss it better?" she mocked.

To her surprise Zoro smirked at her and leaned forward, till his nose was touching hers.

"Sure." he purred. "Go ahead."

Zoro closed his eyes and puckered his lips, ignoring the little dribble of blood that ran down his chin.

He heard shuffling, and when he opened his eyes, she was back in the bow, studiously reading her magazine, cheeks painted

a flattering shade of pink.

Zoro smiled and lay down in the bottom of the boat to probe his newest scar.

–

**My apologies. It's been far too long since I've uploaded anything. **


	8. Weather

**Big shoutout to DawnAngel14, for being an awesome reviewer and reminding me that I'm not done updating this. :) **

The tropical island's weather was warm and balmy with a soft breeze rustling the palm trees.

Nami stretched, arms above her head, smiling happily. "It's a wonderful day out, isn't it, Robin?"

"It is, indeed, lovely. You seem to be in a good mood today, Navigator-san." said the older woman pleasantly.

"How can I not be? It's so beautiful out here, and we don't have to deal with the boys till dinner!" The navigator crowed.

"It's possible that they will come to town later."

"I hope not!"

The two women made their way along the sandy path towards the interior of the island, where the town was located. All the males on the crew were back at the ship, except for Chopper, who was talking to island wildlife on the beach and the edge of the jungle.

The town slowly resolved into a series of long, low buildings, a mixture of homes and shops. There was a small crowd, crossing back and forth across the main street and going in and out of shops.

"Fantastic! What a nice little town!" Nami said, running ahead to look in the window of a boutique.

Nami and Robin spent the next few hours strolling from shop to shop. There were lots of clothing and book stores to the delight of both female Straw-hats, and they were suitably distracted from the gathering storm-clouds.

Nami looked up from a charm kiosk. "Robin... I think it's going to rain."

"Oh?" Robin glanced at the gathering thunderheads. "Indeed. Perhaps you should head back to the ship. You are wearing a white shirt..."

"Yeah." Nami nodded. And shrieked when something jumped out at her from the alley, striking at it viciously with her Clima-Tact – until she realized it was Zoro.

"You!" she screamed. "What are you doing here?"

Zoro scratched his head. "Huh? Oh. Well, the shit-cook was making lunch for everyone and we saw a wild boar at the edge of the jungle and thought it would be good to have extra meat, so he made me go to kill it. But it ran into the jungle and I got lost chasing it."

Nami looked downtrodden. Robin laughed. "Navigator-san, why don't you and Swordsman-san go back to the ship together?"

"No." said Nami darkly. "Let him walk back by himself! Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll walk into a lava-pit."

"Gee, nice to know you think so well of me, witch."

"Who could think well of you?" she barked.

Robin interrupted before it could turn into a full-fledged fight. "I was simply thinking that Swordsman-san could carry our purchases back to the ship, and you could make sure he didn't get lost along the way."

"That's a wonderful idea, Robin-nee-chan! Here, Zoro." she said, snatching an armful off the ground and dropping them on Zoro. "Are you not going to come back with us, Robin?"

"Oh, no." said Robin with a smile. "I was going to visit the occult shop down the street. I know the incense they burn in places like that bothers your eyes, Nami-chan."

"You're so considerate, Robin." Nami sighed, grabbing Zoro's collar. "We'll see you back at the ship."

"See you." The archaeologist waved and walked away.

"All right, Zoro." Nami turned to the swordsman, frowning menacingly. "It's going to rain for sure. So we have to get back to the ship! Right away!"

Zoro smirked down at her. "Tch. If anybody has trouble keeping up, it'll be you."

Nami boxed his ears. "How rude! That's it, you get a fifty-berri fine every time you say something like that to a lady."

He pulled an innocent face. "But me and Robin never argue. And there's no other ladies on the ship..."

"WHY YOU!"

Zoro cringed away from her flying fist, holding out a couple of bags in a threatening manner. "Stop! You'll make me drop them!"

"Ah! Don't hold my bags hostage!"

"I won't! Just stop trying to hit me!"

Any farther argument was postponed when lightening flashed across the sky, followed by a _boom_ of thunder. Nami paled and grabbed his arm. "We have to get back to the ship."

"You're not afraid of thunder, are you?" Zoro asked.

"No! But I have atlases – _expensive_ atlases in some of those bags! They absolutely cannot get wet!"

"Fine, fine!" Zoro said, following her to the edge of town. "Just stop yanking on my shirt!"

Nami broke into a run as the sky lit up again, Zoro hurrying after her at slightly less hectic pace, trying to see over the bags he was carrying to check where he was putting his feet.

Fat drops started to fall, followed almost immediately by a thick sheet of rain that turned the dirt trail into thick mud. Nami halted in the middle of the path, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. Turning left and right, she scanned the jungle for shelter, and caught sight of Zoro already sitting under a large, umbrella-like tree. He patted the dry ground next to him.

Nami ran to him, nearly slipping in the mud twice. She dropped down beside him, crossing her legs and leaning over to peek inside the bags. Her arms were still crossed.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Are you cold?" he wanted to know. It was a warm, tropical rain.

Nami glared. "No, idiot! I'm wearing a white shirt!"

He met her glower with a blank stare. "So?"

"I give up." Nami muttered. "You're just a stupid _man._"

Zoro turned a shade of red to match the one currently painting Nami's cheeks. "Oh. Well... aren't you wearing a – a you-know..."

"A bra." Her blush spread to her ears. "No, I'm not. I don't, usually..."

Oh, there was a thought. A dirty thought. Zoro fought the urge to bash his head against the tree's trunk till it was gone.

Nami stared out at the rain, resting her chin on her knees. Zoro sat cross-legged, doing, Nami thought, some kind of meditation.

They sat like that for a while, till the rain started to slow.

Something moved in the corner of Nami's eye, and she turned to see Zoro holding out his shirt.

Nami took it, running a finger over a red stripe. "I hate this shirt." she told him, putting it on. "It makes you look like a candy-cane."

He scratched his head. "I don't really care. Just as long as I have a shirt. Once I was staying in this town and I got kicked out of my hotel because I couldn't pay for my room. The took all my luggage and it was the middle of the night so I only had my pants on. I got cited for indecent exposure right away. It was a really hard-ass town." He frowned at her.

Nami laughed at him. "How is it that you manage to get into so much trouble?"

Zoro shrugged. "Bad luck, maybe? I don't really believe in that stuff though..."

"You should take 'that stuff' more seriously." she told him, then brightened. "Oh look, the sun's coming out!"

"Yeah. We should get back to the ship." he said, gathering the bags and standing up.

Nami stood as well, zipping the shirt up. "I can take a couple of those, if you like." she offered, rescuing a small bag that looked about to fall to the ground.

"Naw." he said dismissively. "I got it."

She shrugged airily. "Fine. But if you drop those in the mud, you'll pay for them."

"...Fine. Take this one – and this one." he said, letting her take another two bags.

They walked back to ship in companionable silence, Nami swinging her bags happily. His shirt was much too large for her smaller figure, the broad shoulders hanging loosely, and the bottom hem reaching to mid-thigh, dress-like. It swished as she walked.

Not that he was watching or anything.

The beach and the ship came into sight around a bend in the trail, and a disembodied hand waved at them from the railing.

Nami frowned. "How did she get back before us?"

"Who knows." Zoro had given up trying to figure Robin out a long time ago.

Leaning over the ship's railing, the archaeologist only raised an eyebrow upon seeing the shirtless swordsman. Nami caught the older woman's look and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, that. I've decided that Zoro will be my studly man-slave until he pays off his debt, and my first decree was that he'll be going shirtless from now on."

Zoro choked. Robin laughed.

Arms sprouting from the hull of the ship brought the bags onto the deck, while Nami and Zoro climbed up the rope ladder.

"Zoro, put the bags in the kitchen. Robin and I can sort through them later." Nami ordered, starting for the women's quarters. "I'm going to go put something dry on." and she trotted away.

Sanji came tearing onto the deck a moment later.

"MARIMO! WHY IS NAMI-SWAN WEARING YOUR SHIRT AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED?"


End file.
